James f



(NeModeL) J. P. MoELROY.

ELECTRIC GUT-OUT.

I ,No. 577,822. Patented Feb. 23, 1897.

VJ 1515:5555: Im/EnEJI; %W/%Q O%W a UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES F. MGELROY, OF ALBANY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE CONSOLIDATED CARTIEATING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

ELECTRIC CUT-OUT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 577,822, dated February 23, 1897'.

Application filed October 20, 1894. Serial No. 526,474. (No model.)

To all whom, it may cancer/1 Be it known that I, JAMES F. MOELROY, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of Albany, State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Electric Cut-Outs, of which the fol lowing is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in electric cut-outs; and the object of myinvention is to provide a cut-out by the operation of which the danger of fire is avoided and the cut-out rendered more constant in its action and reliable in use. I attain this object by means of the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan. Fig. 2 is a cross-section along the line 1 1 on Fig. l, and Fig. 3 is a cross-section along the line 2 2 011 Fig. 1.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

A represents a porcelain block with a curved grooved channel C out therein for the purpose of allowing the fuse B and attachments to be placed within said groove C and beneath the surface of the porcelain. I place a cover D of mica or other flexible material over the groove, held in position by the screw E in the center of the porcelain block. The fuseB is attached to the connecting-plates F F by screws G G. That portion of the porcelain ,block A lying next to the concave side of the fuse is provided with a series of ribs H H, which project toward the fuse, on account of Which the fuse-wire has but a small surface in contact with the porcelain, which prevents the conduction of heat from the fuse, and hence makes the condition surrounding the fuse more constant and its action more reliable. The covering D, preferably of mica, being flexible, allows the gases to escape outwardly in a thin sheet around the edge of the groove in a crescent form, which reduces the danger of fire, since a thin flame only can come from the groove, and which will not be sufficient in quantity at any one point to ignite any inflammable material with which it may be brought into contact.

The utility of a curved fuse-wire is that on its breaking down, due to the transmission of too heavy a current, the tendency to continue the current by arcing is almost, if not entirely, avoided, as the force of an explosion is outwardly along the radiuslines drawn from the center of the curve. This action operates in connection with an elastic mica cover, reducing the flame of the explosion to a thin crescent sheet outwardly from the curved groove, and this alone lessens very materially the dangers arising from any explosion of the fusebox.

It is a well-known fact that boxes containing fuse are often broken by explosion and great damage is done, not only to the box containing the fuse, but because of fire occurring from the ignition of the adjoining parts.

The simplicity of my invention and the little expense incurred in its construction add to its commercial value.

hat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an electric cut-out, the combination of a porcelain block, a curved grooved channel-way therein, a curved fuse-wire placed in said channel-way suitably connected, with a flexible covering over said channel, substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.

2. In an electric cut-out, the combination of a porcelain block, a curved grooved channel-way cut therein, a series of ribs of porcelain formed in said block on the concave side of said curved fuse, a suitable covering over said channel-way, substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.

3. An electric cut-out consisting of a porcelain block, a curved fuse suitably connected placed in said block, a series of porcelain ribs adjacent to said fuse, with a flexible coverin gplaced over said fuse so arranged that the gases may escape through the cut-out in a thin sheet in the form of a crescent, substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.

at. An electric cut-out consisting of a block of non-conducting substance provided with a curved grooved channel-way, a curved fuse within said channel-way suitably connected, and suitably supported above the bottom of said groove, a series of reduced projections adjacentto said fuse, with a flexible covering over said channel-way, substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.

JAMES F. MOELROY.

Witnesses:

H. J. Nonmnf; 0. S. HAIVLEY, 

